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Rights to Upload Files

The Reviewer role in the FamilySearch Research Wiki has the ability to upload images and files without going through the approval process. If you are not a Reviewer, these steps won't work for you - you will need to submit images for approval.

There are two types of Reviewers:

Reviewers who are long-term Wiki contributors and are given rights to upload their own images.

Reviewers who answer Wiki Support e-mail for FamilySearch (CSMs) can also upload images that wiki contributors submit through the Upload file link in the navigation bar. Click here for the instructions to get started.

Before first uploading an image, you must be familiar with the information in the following articles:

License Templates - to show what license agreement you are able to publish the image under

You must also search through the images already in the Wiki to see if one already exists like what you want.

Steps to Upload Files

To upload images or files (for example, PDF files) directly to the FamilySearch Research Wiki follow these steps:

Under "Toolbox," in the sidebar, click "Special pages."

In the list, scroll down to the heading "Media reports and uploads," and click on the topic "Upload file."

If you are a Reviewer, you will be directed to a page titled Upload file.

Click "Browse" to locate the image or file on your computer.

After clicking on the "Browse" button, a window will open titled "Choose file." Find the file on your computer you want to upload.Note: By default, this window will open your "My Pictures" folder on your computer. If the image you want to upload is located in the "My Pictures" folder, scroll down to locate the image, click on the image, and then click the "Open" button at the bottom of the window. [NOTE: If the image or file you want to upload is not located in the "My Pictures" folder, click the dropdown arrow next to the the words "My Pictures" in the box at the top of the page. You will then be able to browse through your computer to locate the image you want to upload by clicking on the image and then clicking the "Open" button.]

After clicking the "Open" button, you will be directed back to the Upload File page in the FamilySearch Research Wiki.

(Optional but recommended:) Change the "Destination Filename" as needed so that the image or file will have the desired title in the Wiki, but DO NOT delete the file extension off of the name. For example, if you are changing the name from Pic123.jpg, you may change the name to Anything.jpg, but the image will not upload if you change the name to Anything. The .jpg or ,png, etc., must be included in the "Destination Filename."

After changing the destination filename (if necessary), type in a "Summary" for the image. Include the author's name when possible. Remember, you must have full rights to the image, or it must be under the Creative Commons license or in the public domain to legally add it to the Wiki.

Under the summary box is a Licencing drop-down menu for choosing the appropriate licence under which the creator/right holder has allowed the image to be used. See Help:License templates for more information

After typing in the summary and selecting the licence, you are ready to upload the image. Click "Upload file."

Once the file is uploaded, click Edit this page to add the {{Information}} template:

Description: Description of the content, (historical) background, and in the case of scientific data, a brief scientific analysis of the media file.

Source: Use "Own work" for an original media file. Otherwise, provide the website (with both a link to the page embedding the file and a direct link to the file itself), catalog number, name of institution, book source, etc.

Date: Date of creation, or date of publication.

Author: Author(s) of the image. If no individual person known use the name of the institution(s) that released the file.

Permission: Short description of the permission for use granted by the copyright holder. In the case of general permission (e.g. Public Domain), simply describe the media file's copyright status. Note that the media file must still be tagged with the appropriate license template!

Using Images and File Description Pages

After you've uploaded a file, you can use it in an article, with some special wiki syntax to create the link. See Help:Images.

Your file gets its very own “File Description Page” within the File namespace of the wiki. You should edit this page to provide more information about the file. For example, many public wiki projects are quite sensitive to copyright issues, and so you should explain where you got the file from, and what its copyright status is, on the description page. Any other useful descriptive notes could also be added there.

Experienced contributors who have been granted the right may upload as follows:

List of Files in the Wiki

There are a number of special pages to help you view and manage files which have been uploaded. Go to “Special pages” (in the tools on the left) and then see...